Refrigeration



Jan'. 16, 1940. P, 1 LAMMERS Er AL 2,187,041

REFRIGERATION Filed June 5', 1939 afsmf .5E-lwww A' Patented Jan. 1e, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEI nEFmGEnA'iroN Peter .'l. Lammers and Albert F. Laible,

Oakland,

Calif.

Application June 5, 1939. Serial No. 277,382

4 claimt. I (ci. sic-H89) 'rms invention is* specmcanysirected to the construction and form of theinterior of a refrigerator cabinet and its upper portion or top, as also to the location of the expansion or coollil yand their functions.

In known forms of construction, the cooling unit is placed within the refrigerator in such a position that it occupies space which should be available for storage of foods. while'the 'compresser unit is placed in either a lower of an upper compartm t and requires only la small portion of the a ditional volume added to the refrigerator for its installation, thus useless volume is added to the refrigerator and storage zo space is o'ccupiedbythe cooling unit. Also, where glass or other transparent doors are installed, the cooling unit -is in plain sight, and itA thus becomes plainly lapparent that the storage space is definitely limited.

g5 In these refrigerators also, the ceiling oi.' the cabinet isun'iform in -height throughout the extent ofthe cabinet and in a plane completely above the top of the cooling unit, thus providing a comparatively large space for lwarmer air to 30 remain motionless and thus promoting uneven circulation, and also .to form thev Iwalls of the pocket in-such a manner as to increase this circulation to a maximum.

Second: vv'to locate the cooling unit in a posi 4g tion in' which it does not obstruct or take up any of the storage space within the cabinet, so as to-provide a maximum volume of storage space.-

Third: to form the ceiling oi' the'cabinet with its major portion located in a normal plane at 50 the top of the storage space andjto form an inverted pocket upwardly into the ceiling for the cooling unit, with the pocket ceiling being connected to the cabinet ceiling by means of an 'inclined `ceiling portion to promote uninterrupted i ilow of warmer airtothe top vof the cooling unit for its normal circulation downwardly through the cooling unit.

Fourth: to form a pocket in the top of the cabinet complementary to the previously-mentioned pocket for mounting the compressor unit in a I position where heated air created through operation of the compressor will be free to dissipate in a normal upward direction, and to provide aninclined iloor on one side to promote circulation of cooling air to the bottom of the compresl0 sor unit.

Fifth: to mount the compressor unit and the cooling unitin substantially the same horizontal plane so asl to maintain the overall volume of the refrigerator at a minimum while provid- 15 ing maximum storage space.

In describing this invention, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is a vfront elevation of a refrigerator with this invention embodied'therein. 2 Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional elevation through the refrigerator showing the invention.

Fig. 3 is a section takenson line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 illustrates a modified or streamline form of ceiling and top floory construction. 25

'The usual expansion/or cooling unit of any suitable type. together; with its compressor unit are used with this invention and are indicated respectively at I Uandll.

Ihe invention consists of a cabinet l2 having 30 suitably insulated frontl wall i3, rear wall Il, side walls l5 and I6, bottom Il, and ceiling Il,

` and suitable doors I 9 arev provided in number suillcient for convenient access to the storage space, accordingtovv the length of the refrigerav 35 so thatv this cboung unit is located in its-edtirety above the' no rmal'plane 22 of the-ceiling I8, and one-side wall 23 of this pocketis inclined to promote free and unhampered movement of i warmer air to the space 24 above the cooling 50 unit, and forms an inclined continuation of the ceiiingi connecting with the ceiling of the cooling unit pocket. This inclinedwall promotes elcient circulation of air from the space below the normal ceilingand causes the air-to flow over 55 ing I8 and continues` its movement toward the,

pocket vdue to the natural tendency of warmer air to seek a higher level, and due to the fact that this higher level is provided, circulation will continue uninterruptedly from the normal ceiling.

The air moving upwardly close to the wall ,I5 will naturally move as readily and elciently to- 1 ward the cooling unit pocket as that moving through an inside path, and due to the comparative sudden rise at'25 and the Anatural outward curved sweep of the' air at this corner, eddy currents are introduced in the air stream and have a deilnite eil'ect in setting up air movements throughout the cabinet, and prevent any lack of circulation in the more remote sections, such as the area of juncture of the normal ceiling with the side wall i5. A

The air has ample space to move freely along the inclined ceiling portion 23 and to move into the superposed chamber 24, to pass down through theccoling unit, and thus a very eiiicient system of circulation is provided by thelocation, form and structure of the cooling unit pocket.

In addition, the cooling unit is completely out of sight, being located in its entirety above the top of the doors I8, and it obviously does not take up any of the normal storage space, providing maximum capacity for storage and cooling -of foods or other materials to be refrigerated.

The top floor of the cabinet follows the contour of the ceilings, and a compressor unit pocket is formed at the other end of the refrigerator from that at which the cooling unit pocket is formed, and is similar in shape to the cooling unit pocket except that it isnot inverted.

This compressor unit pocket 26 has a floor 21 on which the compressor unit is mounted, and it will be noted that the two units, l0 and Il, are mounted in substantially the same plane, thus reducing the overall volume of the refrigerator. One side wall 28" of the compressor-unit pocket is sloped at the same inclination as the ceiling portion 23 and conveniently formed parallel thereto, and forms a down-draft elementA for directing cooling air below and about the compressor unit, thus increasing the cooling eiiiciency, particularly in view of the fact that the escape of heated air is effected in its natural upward direction. Thus the natural flow' of cooling air is unhampered and unrestricted, and transfer of the heat from the compressor unit to the tially obviated.

A streamline modification of the ceiling is illustrated in Fig. 4, the general characteristics of refrigerator is substanf which are similar to the ceiling previously de'- A, scribed except that sharp corners are eliminated.

Thearcuate cornersjl and Il have real merit, butthe sharp corner 2l, Fig. 2 is preferred in lieu of the rounded corner 3l, Fig. 4, since the sharp corner at this point forms a break in the circu- -.,lating path and in uceseddies which effect more 'thorough circulati n', while the rounded cornerv the refrigerator as is customary in commercial types of refrigerators, and in such cases the preferred location in this refrigerator is in a position adjacent to the straight or vertical wall of the cooling-unit pocket, as illustrated at I2, in which case the air will be driven through the cooling unit toward inclined ceiling 2l, where the air will be deflected toward the wall I5, continuing about the refrigerator in a direction opposite to that indicated by the arrows for natural circulation, the air ascending along the wall li to the fan 22 for re-clrculation. l

Thus all of the advantages are retained when forced circulation is used; the conservation of space; minimum overall volume ofv refrigerator with maximum volume of storage space, and thorough circulating eiIect induced by the inclined wall of the cooling unit pocket.

Obviously the inclined wall has a specific function to perform whether natural or forced circulation is used, and in either case, this inclined wall promotes the very highest circulating emciency.

It will be understoodl that variations in construction and arrangement, which variations are consistent with the appended claims, may be re sorted to without detracting from the spirit or scope of the invention, or sacrificing any of'the advantages thereof.

We claim:

1. In a refrigerator having storage space and a cooling unit: a fan and driving means therefor and associated with said cooling unit; a cabinet having a roof, a ceiling at the top of the storage space and having an inverted pocket having side walls including an inclined'wall forming a downwardly diverging pocket, and having a top wall and formed upwardly from the ceiling with said cooling unit and its fan and driving means therefor mounted within said pocket and in its entirety being located above the plane of said ceiling, said fan being located on one side of said cooling unit for forcing lwarmer air which is normally seeking its higher level, through said cooling unit toward said inclined wall, the air being deflected by the` inclined wall angularly downward into the storage space to promote thorough and eiilcient circulation.

2. A structure is defined in claim 1 in which the roof of said cabinet is formed with a pocket having one side wall formed parallel to the inclined wall of said pocket for the cooling unit and having a compressor unit mounted therein, whereby said cooling unit and the compressor unit are mounted within a height of cabinet top not to L exceed that required for the higher of the two units, thus maintaining "the overall volume of the refrigerator at a minimum, and'in which said inclined side wall directs the natural flow of coolingair free of thermal iniiuence from the compressor to the lower end of the compressor for natural circulation thereabout. v

3. A refrigerator comprising; a cabinet having 7 storage space having vertical side walls andv a ceiling; a cooling-unit pocket formed upwardly through said ceiling and having one side wall formed as a continuation of one of said vertical qs side walls, a ceiling and an vopposite side wall downwardly inclined from said ceiling and forming a divergent pocket, and a cooling unit mounted in its entirety within said pocket in spaced relaing an upwardly converging pocket between said cooling unit and said downwardly inclined wall for free natural circulation of airupwardly to the space between the top of the cooling unit and the ceiling for the pocket free of thermal influence from the cooling unit until the air reaches the upper portion oi the converging pocket:

4. A structure as defined in claim 3; a fan and driving vmeans therefor mounted between said cooling unit and said one side wall for forcing air through said cooling unit toward said inclined wall; said inclined wall deecting the forced air angularly downward into said storage space for eilcient circulation.

PETER J. LAMMERS. ALBERT F. LAIBLE. 

